Lethargic Week XXIII

Mon - 0hr

Tues - 60min/ 6.5m/ 600' - MST/ Azalea Park - Nice easy effort run with Mad A on the MST in Asheville and then finished it out with about 1.5m barefoot on the grass.  Took a quick jump in the Swannanoa during the run as well.

Wed - 0hr - just feeling really lethargic today

Thurs - 70min/ 5.9m/ 800' - Lake Shore - Felt like I could barely pick up my feet on this run.  Feeling just plain lethargic.

Fri - 0hr - I have come to terms that I am a slug this week.

Sat - 3hr6min/ ~16m/ 3300' - HAROC - After being a complete slug most of the week I thought I should redeem myself and run to all 3 peaks in Hanging Rock State Park from the bottom of the park.  This was the fitness challenge I was contemplating while working at the park last summer.  More on this one below.

Sun - 0hr

Totals =

Time - 5hr16min
Distance - 28.4m
Vert - 4700'
Barefoot - 1.5m

Week in Review


I don't know if I am just generally fatigued from running 3 marathon effort runs in the past 6 weeks or if I have contracted some fatigue inducing disease (lyme disease?), but I felt just plan out weak and lethargic this whole week.  If this carries into next week I might be going to the doc to check things out.  My goal to average 8 hours a week of running this year is starting to dwindle.

Hanging Rock Run


The route I had selected to attempt today was one I have had in the back of my mind for sometime now.  I had always wanted to run to each peak in Hanging Rock State Park in one push and the thought of running it  from Tory's Den at the bottom of the mountain sounded like even more of a challenge.  So after reluctantly waking up late Saturday morning I headed off to the park to attempt this route.  I was wanting to get up earlier, but a late night wasn't going to allow that and it looked like I would be running this in the heat of the day.  I had only one bottle with me, but there were chances to fill up at Moore's Springs (3.5m) and the visitor center (10m).  The first two summits, Cook's Wall and Hanging Rock, more or less came and went as I navigated through small boulders, rocks, roots, and throngs of people.  I must have undoubtedly pissed a few people off.  After I made it down to the visitor center, I stopped by the lake to say hi to some former coworkers I had last year and then began to climb up to the last summit of the day, Moore's Knob, the highest point in the park and the Sauratown Mountains.  The heat had finally caught up to me and what started as a slow jog up the stairs soon deteriorated into a death march to reach the fire tower up on the summit.  I think it took me about 30 minutes to cover those 2.2 miles and near 1000' of gain.  This well of my PR on this ascent, which I believe is just about 20 minutes.  At the top, my energy was gone and even the stinger waffle I just scarfed down did nothing to revive me as I descended one of the most technical downhill sections of trail I've ever been on.  It is right on par with the infamous West Ridge Trail and the rock garden section of the AT coming off Hump Mtn.  I slowly stumbled down the trail, finally reaching Tory's Den Trail to finish the day off.  It definitely hurt and I can't wait to lower my time on the route, as see other people take on the challenge.  I would advise doing so in cooler weather though.  Here is a link to the page for this awesome challenge:  HAROC.  Let's lower that time now people!